Blackburn boss Mowbray hails Armstrong

Posted Wednesday, January 29, 2020 by PA

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray suggested Adam Armstrong could continue playing as a centre forward after he marked his 100th Rovers appearance with the opener in the 2-1 victory over QPR.

Armstrong’s ninth of the season – a beautifully-curled 25-yard effort – put the hosts ahead, but Jordan Hugill equalised with a composed finish in the 22nd minute.

Captain Darragh Lenihan made the decisive contribution with an unstoppable far post header for his second goal in as many games, but after Rovers made it two wins on the bounce, and stretched their overall record to only two defeats in 13, Mowbray praised Armstrong’s quality.

He said: “Adam doesn’t surprise me. He does it all the time in training. Sometimes the boys will stop and clap at him as he scores a wonder goal in training.

“When we were playing for the last two-and-a-half years, (Danny) Graham and (Bradley) Dack, Armstrong has to play. He comes off the left on the right foot and bends things in like he did there tonight. He’s been playing centre forward which stretches the opposition, which buys space for the likes of (Lewis) Holtby and (Joe) Rothwell and allows us to play through the lines.

“The balance of the team is looking alright. First half tonight, we were pretty good with the ball. I enjoyed watching us.

“He’s playing down the middle and should get more opportunities. He can score goals on both feet, he can whack it in from the edge of the box. Maybe the future is Adam Armstrong up front for this club.”

QPR could have overtaken the hosts with a win but a fourth defeat in six leaves them nine points off the play-offs.

Mark Warburton was pleased with the performance, but felt it lacked guile.

He said: “I think we did enough if I’m fair but I can’t say that because you have to put the ball in the back of the net, we all know it.

“You talk about stats and data and everything else. Irrelevant. Put the ball in the back of the net.

“We did enough to do that I think in terms of good areas we got into, dominated possession, looked dangerous on both flanks but just lacked, a bit of guile, that little cleverness on the last pass, the last cross, the last touch, to get the rewards. But I think we could have come away with a point quite comfortably.

“It’s important when you have good attacking play, when you come to a place like this – a good team, a tough place, well managed – when you play football like that, you will get something out of the game. And tonight we didn’t do that final part.”